M&C Saatchi Mobilehttp://www.mcsaatchimobile.com
Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:54:10 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Is the free lunch of social over?http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/25/free-lunch-social/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/25/free-lunch-social/#commentsWed, 25 Feb 2015 11:57:31 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5241In recent weeks we have spoken about the growth of native advertising and what it means for brands. It also seems that the platforms that host and distribute content are …...

]]>In recent weeks we have spoken about the growth of native advertising and what it means for brands. It also seems that the platforms that host and distribute content are also looking to generate more revenue from native advertising – YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr and Snapchat have all made moves towards creating and hosting more content of their own in conjunction with brands.

YouTube has amended its policies so that creators can no longer host banner ads over their videos unless the ads are sanctioned through Google’s sales team. According to a revised FAQ document in YouTube’s help and support section, video overlays of sponsor logos and product branding are no longer allowed — unless the sponsor pays Google to advertise on that channel.

Pinterest is also clamping down on “free” advertising, imposing a ban on affiliate links last week, a technology that allowed Pinterest’s most powerful users to prove they were sending traffic to brands’ websites and, in turn, make money. The decision came amid reports Pinterest was working on adding a “buy” button to posts, thus turning it into an e-commerce platform. It has been speculated the crackdown was to prevent affiliate marketers from interfering with Pinterest’s e-commerce plans – which would make sense, given the role Pinterest has in driving e-commerce. According to statistics from Gigya, for general social sharing of all types, Facebook leads the way with a 41% share, followed by Twitter at 30%, and Pinterest at 20%; LinkedIn and Google+ lagged behind with 4% and 3% of all sharing activity, respectively. But a rather different picture emerged for sharing related to e-commerce, where Pinterest led the way with 44% of all e-commerce-based shares, followed by Facebook with 37% and Twitter at just 12%.

As always, Twitter is continuing to develop its own platform. Two weeks ago, Twitter acquired Niche, a startup that brokers sponsored-content deals between Internet celebrities with brands for advertising opportunities. While Niche’s network encompasses many platforms, its specialty is video sharing app Vine. In acquiring Niche, Twitter can now earn revenue from these deals (it wasn’t earning a dime from them before). This acquisition plays more to Twitter’s strengths as more of an open platform than Facebook, and gives an outlet for producing native advertising suited to the platform. Not to be left out in the cold, Tumblr launched Creatrs Network in January, an in-house agency designed solely to broker sponsored-content deals between brands and Tumblr’s most popular account holders.

It would seem a great deal of the activity from social networks is driven by the increasing usage of mobile as a video consumption channel. The actions from the platforms indicate that native is only set to continue to grow, and the audience is on mobile.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/25/free-lunch-social/feed/02015 Certainties for Digital & Mobilehttp://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/05/2015-certainties-digital-mobile/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/05/2015-certainties-digital-mobile/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 10:21:03 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5229There are several trends that point to certainties in 2015 – changes that will be integral to the shape of the mobile, and indeed, digital landscape. Here are M&C Saatchi …...

]]>There are several trends that point to certainties in 2015 – changes that will be integral to the shape of the mobile, and indeed, digital landscape. Here are M&C Saatchi Mobile’s Global CEO James Hilton’s Top 5.

1. The convergence and consolidation of companies in the technology space

We expect there will be considerable consolidation of technology providers in mobile. This will be a continuation of a theme seen this year, and we expect that there will be more ‘full stack’ players next year. Google and Facebook have consolidated their competencies into clear solutions. The full stack providers will also enable campaigns to reach ever greater scale, delivered through programmatic buying, which we also expect to expand considerably on mobile.

2. Cross-channel Attribution will finally become a realistic proposition

Cross channel attribution, whilst it has been full of promise for some time, will finally be realised in 2015. Cross channel attribution is more essential than ever, with the average consumer using multiple devices on a daily basis. With development of full stack solutions, technology providers will be able confidently attribute users to a device or a screen.

3. Change in ad metrics from CTR to views and attention

We are also confident that there will be a fundamental change in attitude towards digital advertising with the advent of viewability metrics. These metrics have begun to be formalised this year, but we expect their widespread adoption in 2015. In November, comScore’s Validated Campaign Essential received certification from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

4. Data-driven creativity: data means greater personalisation

With the previous trends enabling marketers to see what audiences are enjoying, data-driven creativity will be important in delivering the sort of experiences that will resonate with audiences, and deliver deeper brand engagement. Through programmatic, it will be possible to deliver personalised messaging at massive scale.

5. Fragmentation of social attention: proliferation of dark social

Another certainty for next year will be the continued fragmentation of the social landscape. The growth of dedicated messaging apps has been substantial, leading to a development of ‘dark social’. Whilst dark social has been documented this year, 2015 will see the development of analytics around user behaviour on the platforms, and with good reason: according to some estimates, dark social now accounts for 70 per cent of all sharing activity.

Marketers’ skills need to attune to new landscape. With all the trends considered, it is clear that marketing competencies will require updating, yet again. To gather useful insights from the mass of data now generated by consumers, marketers will have to develop and effectively utilise new tools and methods to deliver effective engagement.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/05/2015-certainties-digital-mobile/feed/0Apple Reports Record Profitshttp://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/03/apple-records-record-profits/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/03/apple-records-record-profits/#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 11:08:43 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5222Amongst the recent slew of financial reports for technology companies, Apple’s results stood out for good reason: making the most profit of any company, ever. The $18 billion Apple made …...

]]>Amongst the recent slew of financial reports for technology companies, Apple’s results stood out for good reason: making the most profit of any company, ever. The $18 billion Apple made in profit exceeded expectations, as did the 74 million iPhones sold (34,000 phones every hour, every day, for three months). Along with the 500 million visits to physical and digital stores, Apple had a very good Christmas.

A few short years ago, it seemed the company was on the back foot: the growth of Samsung and Android was rampant, Apple seemed to be failing to deliver new product lines and had failed to attract consumers in emerging markets. These worries are now dispelled. A large component of the company’s profit was of course driven by the iPhone, being sold in international markets. Apple has managed to defy the law of demand with the iPhone, by creating a “Veblen good” – a product that has a demand proportional to the price – the iPhone now has a higher Average Selling Price (ASP) than when it was released in 2007. Contrasting this to Samsung, which suffered a 23 percent drop in mobile revenue for 2014, Apple now has a near monopoly on the higher end of smartphones. Tim Cook, speaking on the earnings call said that “I would point out that only a small fraction of the installed base has upgraded. And so there is a lot more people within the installed base….we had the highest number of customers new to iPhone last quarter than in any prior launch. …the current iPhone lineup experienced the highest Android switcher rate in any of the last three launches in the three previous years.” This would seem to indicate that consumers who have used high end Android devices are now moving towards iPhone. Along with stunning growth in China – 70 percent increase revenue for the quarter year-on-year – it would seem Apple has resolved most of its problems.

As the number of devices has increased, so has usage of Apple services. The app store experienced a 41% increase in revenue. Swift, the programming language designed to speed up iOS development, was downloaded 11 million times. Over 600 developers are using HealthKit to develop products. Apple Pay now accounts for 2 out of every 3 contactless dollars spent in the United States – Whole Foods has seen a 400% increase in contactless payments. It seems Apple’s hold on the mobile ecosystem increases with every phone sold.

Despite these successes, key questions will remain for Apple in the future. Apple Watch is on track to be released in April this year. Despite the optimism and promise it has shown, the market for a digital watch may be limited. Some forecasts estimate 30 million units sold in the first year – quite limited demand when contrasted with the iPhone. How will Apple create the demand to turn Watch into a mass market device? The position of the iPad is also unclear. The ASP for iPad has declined since its released, and whilst sales and the install base are still good by most measures, Apple has not convinced consumers that iPads need replacing more than every three years or so – much like a laptop. Should Apple try to increase innovation in tablets? As technologies behind Augmented/Virtual Reality improve, will Apple be accused of failing to innovate yet again if it doesn’t develop capabilities in the field? Despite future questions, Apple’s results do demonstrate the power of the iPhone, and how important mobile has become for consumers everywhere.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/02/03/apple-records-record-profits/feed/0How will social influence video in 2015?http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/will-social-influence-video-2015/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/will-social-influence-video-2015/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 11:35:40 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5207As we said at the end of last year, video will be a big theme for the coming year, and it seems that not every company is entirely happy to …...

]]>As we said at the end of last year, video will be a big theme for the coming year, and it seems that not every company is entirely happy to let YouTube continue to dominate the market. While YouTube competitors such as DailyMotion and Vimeo have had limited success, could social platforms change this?

Facebook revealed this week that in just one year, “the number of video posts per person has increased 75% globally and 94% in the US. And with people creating, posting and interacting with more videos on Facebook, the composition of News Feed is changing. Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6x year-over-year. Since June 2014, Facebook has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day. On average, more than 50% of people who come back to Facebook every day in the US watch at least one video daily and 76% of people in the US who use Facebook say they tend to discover the videos they watch on Facebook.”

Twitter is also rumoured to be expanding its video capability. While it is conjecture for the time being, the (rumoured) feature, will allow users to shoot, edit and post video directly through the app, is Twitter’s attempt to get more clips on the service — and more engagement. Right now, the only way for regular Twitter users (that is, not advertisers, or certain publishers and celebrities) to share video is to do so through Vine, Twitter’s standalone, six-second video app. This new feature is different from Vine, but it apparently has some similarities. With the native video tool, you can upload video from your phone’s camera roll, or shoot and edit video directly through the Twitter app, according to sources who have seen and used the feature. The videos will also have some kind of time limit similar to Vine. These sources say Twitter has experimented with a 20-second time limit on user-uploaded video. The goal for Twitter is to get more users sharing and creating video on the platform, which in turn could keep people using the product more regularly.

These announcements and proposals come as YouTube continues to gear up its own capabilities. They also beg the question: will social media become ‘proper’ media channels in their own right? The potential for delivering entertainment through social channels is evidently huge. YouTube is already the world’s biggest streaming service, arriving there by almost accident. With mobile and social continuing to eat into consumer attention, it makes greater sense than ever to deliver brand messaging via these more targeted channels. As the social/mobile audience grows, there will be lots of room to innovate with the formats and delivery of content. As more than 30% of Americans get their news from Facebook, the company has sought to capitalise on the opportunity by helping broadcasters develop new properties: in the United States, ABC News’ David Muir launched the World News Tonight Facecast, a 1-to 2-minute newscast produced solely for its audience on Facebook. The Facecast highlights three to five stories that are in the news with a mix of hard news and feature stories. The series is the first of its kind by a network news anchor on Facebook, and each episode averages 100,000 to 200,000 views.

As the development of YouTube has shown, there has already been lots of innovation in what would’ve traditionally been regarded as entertainment. Who would’ve thought that millions of people would be happy to watch somebody playing video games? Or look for a make-up tutorial? In a recent New York Times article, YouTube was estimated to have 300 million hours of video watched per day, which comes in at around 114 billion hours a year (and makes around 1 cent per hour). Despite this massive number it seems certain that Facebook and Twitter will present a challenge to YouTube’s near monopoly of user-generated content. With the reach of mobile and deeper integration of social, the democratisation of entertainment is set to grow even more.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/will-social-influence-video-2015/feed/0Mobile will be the most important device for consumers the world over in 2015http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/mobile-will-important-device-consumers-world-2015/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/mobile-will-important-device-consumers-world-2015/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 11:22:04 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5205As the digital and mobile landscape continues to evolve and shape the way we communicate and connect, it is important to understand what is happening in the market and the …...

]]>As the digital and mobile landscape continues to evolve and shape the way we communicate and connect, it is important to understand what is happening in the market and the effect that emerging technologies have on the rest of the industry. Things are moving quickly and the medium consumers use across different regions can differ greatly.

There are many publications that keep an eye on market trends. One of the more anticipated reports in the Industry is from the communications regulator Ofcom, who ensure fair practises across TV and radio, fixed line telecoms, mobile, post and the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Yesterday, Ofcom released their 11th International Communications Market Report for 2014, which has observed some interesting trends across the UK and 17 comparator countries – France, Germany, Italy, the US, Japan, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Nigeria.

An interesting outcome of the study across most markets is there is a significant decline between 2012 and 2013 of consumers browsing on desktop and laptop devices, making way for increased Smartphone usage. Time spent browsing on desktop and laptop fell by nine hours on average in the US & seven hours per user in the UK. Furthermore, people over 55 are using desktop and laptop more, with 25% over 55 in the UK, up two percent since 2013.

As the younger generation continue to adopt newer technologies, it is no surprise that social networking and reading news online are the two most popular activities performed on smartphones, everywhere except Australia. Of the UK respondents surveyed who access news online, 24% said their smartphone was their primary device for news, with 16% saying tablet was their main device for news. Understanding the consumer journey online, people in the UK and Spain are more likely to start their ‘news journey’ with a news brand, whereas users in other countries like Germany and France are twice as likely to discover stores using search.

Following this upward trend in mobile consumption, mobile advertising spend per head is continuing to sky rocket, doubling from £8 to £16 in 2013. These figures are impressive and show no signs of slowing down, as smartphones continue to become the most popular device for accessing the internet. The report also covers interest information on usage behaviours across other mediums (including an interesting stat on how parcels from online purchases are helping keep postal services afloat, even though we send more emails than letters these days!). The full report can be accessed online for free here.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/mobile-will-important-device-consumers-world-2015/feed/0How should we think about social in 2015?http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/think-social-2015/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/think-social-2015/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 10:49:02 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5209Over the past few weeks, there has been some debate on the blogging/social channel Medium, over a post entitled “A Teenager’s View on Social Media”. The post, written by Andrew …...

]]>Over the past few weeks, there has been some debate on the blogging/social channel Medium, over a post entitled “A Teenager’s View on Social Media”. The post, written by Andrew Watts (an actual teen), has attracted such interest because it is meant to offer an authoritative opinion on how teens actually use social channels. While it is a narrow qualitative view, the post goes some way to confirm what some other commentators and analysts have suspected: that Facebook is not used that much, Instagram is used a lot, Snapchat continues to grow, and not many young people ‘get’ Twitter.

While it can be argued this is indicative for some teenagers in the United States, it can be seen as something of a confirmation bias. In a response (also on Medium), Danah Boyd, a Visiting Professor at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, dispelled some of the perceptions the teenager’s view had painted. Ms. Boyd pointed out that whilst Mr. Watts’ view may be representative of some teenagers, she believes that “ teens’ use of social media is significantly shaped by race and class, geography and cultural background”. This is an interesting insight as it reconsiders what metrics really convey about social media usage.

Ev Williams, one of the founders of both Twitter and Medium, recently wrote a post on what is wrong with social metrics, in terms of monthly users, or the size of the audience. Instagram surpassed Twitter in the number of users at the end of 2014. A week later, some financial analysts valued Instagram at $35 billion, on the basis of the size of the audience and potential for brand reach. Ev Williams disputed the idea that Instagram was bigger than Twitter in his post: “So is Instagram larger than Twitter? No — it’s different than Twitter. One is largely private, the other largely public. One focuses on photos, the other on ideas. They’re both very large, and they’re both growing.”

It can be argued that the bigger question for marketers around social channels, is how much attention they now attract. With the rise of mobile, the battleground for attention has become infinite. Wired Magazine also recently touched on the issue: “We don’t learn about the world from The New York Times, we learn about it from the Times stories that our family and friends share or that show up as push notifications four minutes before one from The Guardian does. Thirty percent of American adults get news from Facebook, according to the Pew Research Center, and more than half of Americans got news from a smartphone within the past week, according to the American Press Institute. And these metrics are just going up, up, up. The question for news publishers is no longer how to draw an audience to their sites, it’s how to implant themselves into their audience’s lives.”

This not only applies to reading, but watching and listening too. Mobile has reconfigured how people consume all types of media, and social tends to be the primary delivery mechanism. The diversity and scale of social allows for more granular audiences, and more targeted delivery of messaging. However, with the battle for attention, it is essential that social channels give greater transparency on how much attention an audience will give, in order to help brands make the most effective messaging possible.

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2015/01/22/think-social-2015/feed/0M&C Saatchi Mobile wraps the year up with another big win – iMedia’s Best Agency for mobilehttp://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2014/12/22/mc-saatchi-mobile-wraps-year-another-big-win-imedias-best-agency-mobile/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2014/12/22/mc-saatchi-mobile-wraps-year-another-big-win-imedias-best-agency-mobile/#commentsMon, 22 Dec 2014 12:19:41 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5176The most recent iMedia award, which was announced last week, rounds off one of the best years that M&C Saatchi Mobile has seen since its launch in 2006 when it …...

]]>The most recent iMedia award, which was announced last week, rounds off one of the best years that M&C Saatchi Mobile has seen since its launch in 2006 when it was founded as one of the first dedicated mobile agencies in the UK.

‘There’s no question that mobile is a critically important part of marketing today, but while some agencies are late arrivals in the space, clients turn to M&C Saatchi because they’ve been a mobile specialist since 2006. That’s one year before Apple debuted the first iPhone, for those who are keeping track.’

]]>In December M&C Saatchi Mobile achieved recognition in both effectiveness and creativity for its world-class mobile marketing campaigns and was crowned The Drum’s Mobile Agency of the Year.

Throughout 2014, the agency has been awarded a raft of prestigious accolades including its founder and global CEO James Hilton being crowned in The Drum’s Mobile Top 50, as the most influential man in mobile.

]]>M&C Saatchi Mobile’s global CEO, James Hilton, has topped this year’s The Drum Mobile Top 50 list, with OMD UK’s head of mobile Milton Elias finishing in second place.

The list of 50 mobile professionals in the UK, was compiled after a shortlist of 100 nominated individuals was put to an online public vote to choose the most influential people working within mobile.

Hilton was named as this year’s top choice, with Elias coming in second and Alex Newman, Omnicom’s managing director of mobile, finishing in third place.

“In 2005 I realised that mobile was going to be the next digital channel and I firmly believed it would rapidly become an integral part of the marketing mix,” explained Hilton. “When I launched the company, I was keen not to raise capital as I believed investors would distract me away from my vision. The industry was full of doubters and client budgets were non-existent, and to top it all off we were the first mobile marketing agency to launch in the UK – which certainly made the challenge even greater.”

]]>http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2014/12/22/mc-saatchi-mobiles-global-ceo-james-hilton-tops-drums-mobile-top-50/feed/0Another Mobile Christmashttp://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2014/01/20/another-mobile-christmas/
http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/2014/01/20/another-mobile-christmas/#commentsMon, 20 Jan 2014 16:01:21 +0000http://www.mcsaatchimobile.com/?p=5028Now that the dust has settled and the figures are clear, it is evident that mobile has yet again provided its worth for retailers in the Christmas period. Whilst sales …...

]]>Now that the dust has settled and the figures are clear, it is evident that mobile has yet again provided its worth for retailers in the Christmas period. Whilst sales figures have increased as part of a broad trend, online sales growth has outstripped in-store sales by a significant margin. The following data from ONS shows that store sales figures are quickly being dwarfed by online sales with mobile leading the charge. In fact the majority of retailer financial results now show mobile retail income as a separate line item, and with eMarketer estimating that mCommerce makes up around 15% of online sales in the UK, it is no surprise.

Mobile first retailers leading the way

The growth in online shopping has translated into strong results for high street retailers that have embraced digital commerce. Argos, part of the Home Retail Group, was buoyed by increased sales of tvs and tablets, and saw Mobile sales grow 75% on year-on-year basis, Mobile purchases now account for 20% of total sales. In addition, Shopdirect reported 64% growth in mobile sales, up 28% on a year-on-year basis and that mobile sales now account for 43% of all sales. The group also said that over half of all visits to the websites came from smartphones and tablets over Christmas, and expect that by 2015, mobile will be part of the customer journey for every transaction.

Grocery retailers also saw significant mobile sales with Tesco stating that more than a third of its online grocery orders were placed on a mobile device in the runup to Christmas. In addition, Marks & Spencer said orders from tablet computers had more than doubled, while sales via phones were up 80%. This activity continued through Christmas with John Lewis revealing that three-quarters of Christmas Day online traffic came from phones and tablet computers, making it the UK’s first ‘mobile Christmas’.

Mobile first services equal success

For those adept at making the most of mobile, Christmas has become an even better time of year. Argos’ recent performance has been helped by pioneering “click and collect” and making the online experience the most user friendly of any retailer, coming first in a European wide survey conducted by Forrester Research. According to research for mobile operator O2 by Conlumino, more than a third of shoppers use click and collect services, and use is expected to rise by 12% this year. John Lewis saw click and collect sales rise 60%, while Tesco said 70% of its online orders for fashion and homewares were collected in stores. Retailers are driving the trend with a range of new ideas, from Asda’s pick-up points or Amazon lockers spread across convenient points in cities and the rise of Collect Plus, which lets shoppers pick up items from thousands of local convenience stores. Offering such services are so clearly aligned with the best performers this year that we expect the vast majority of retailers to implement similar services in 2014.

Tablets sales also driving profits

Whilst smartphones and tablets have become an important channel to purchase products and consume media, they are also an important revenue stream in their own right. Tablets now account for four of the ten most popular items sold in John Lewis. 200 million tablets were sold across the globe in 2013, startling considering the format was only really introduced in 2010. The market for tablets has already split between high and low specification products. The introduction of the Tesco Hudl tablet and the Aldi Lifetab gave consumers the option of a more affordable tablet, and greater opportunity for the retailers to sell more of their products through mobile channels. Any retailers not factoring in tablets this Christmas will lose out on an considerable amount of business.

Another vintage mobile year?

The impact of mobile commerce will only grow further as 4G becomes more widespread allowing for more immersive shopping experiences. The 4GEE Mobile Living Index, a report from EE, was based on its own network data covering 1.2m 4G users and an independent survey of 1,000 of such users by TNS. It found that 39% of 4GEE users planned to shop on a smartphone or tablet in Christmas 2013, more than double the 15% who did in 2012. The busiest times for this activity were early morning (8.30am) and late afternoon (5.30pm) as the daily commute was utilised for retail pursuits. EE suggested that retailers with quality mobile apps and websites optimised for mobile users were set to be big winners and we wholeheartedly agree.

Whatever happens this year, mobile will separate the best performing retailers from the pack and having a solid mobile strategy is more important than ever. For example, Argos and Shopdirect, two retailers who have implemented different approaches to being mobile first, but have achieved great successes over the past year – Argos has managed to change its image of a high street stalwart into an easily accessible digital retailer, and Very.co.uk, one of Shopdirect’s brands, had turnover similar to Asos for 2013, with Asos being heralded as one of the great successes of the digital economy. For 2014, expect another vintage mobile year.